Vicki McLendon

9-23-14

Mr. Ward

 Alexander the "Great"

What truly makes someone great? Is it what they accomplish and materialist or is it what they leave behind? Alexander the great was considered great by some because he accomplished much starting at a young age. But was Alexander really that great? Often times when Alexander was in foreign countries he would get drunk and have many people needlessly killed. When Alexander didn't get his way he often pouted and hid in his tent. Alexander concurred with violence, a modern day dictator. He changed cultures and forced many people to comply to his army and to Asian cultures. 

Does Alexander deserve to be called great?

Alexander did many unorthodox and questionable deeds and doesn't deserve to be called great. Alexander was a drunken who often killed for no reason. He never seemed to think about the consequences to his actions. He was quick to aggression, slow to conciser. Alexander was impulsive, he always wanted more and enjoyed fighting in battles. Alexander did gain much land for his

 country but, he never took the time to build the up country's

 economy and stability before conquering new land. After Alexander died, so did Ancient Alexandria. Life is fleeting so all that will be left of you after you die is the impact you made and lives you changed. To me, if your legacy isn't for the betterment of lives it is would be hard to be remembered as"great".

What can one learn about the values of a society based on their view of greatness?

You can learn very much about a society by whats its morals and views of greatness are. If someone is know as great you can tell that the things he did were acceptable and valued in those times. Now if someone acted as Alexander the great did it wouldn't be accepted. Alexander is a good example of how the times change views of acceptability. In the times of Alexander, you can infer that there was much war and that diplomacy was not widely practiced. Now we conciser someone to be great by how they have helped to shape the world, not by how much land they own, or how many people they have killed. In the times of Alexander, we can see that someone's impact didn't matter, only their possession and social status.

Do time and distance impact someones popular perception?

Time greatly impacts a person's opinion on someone or an event. Sometimes when a loved one dies their predecessors only remembers the good that the deceased did. The opposite can sometimes be true all the same. After time and distance sometimes we tend to focus on either the good a person did or the bad the person did. An example of time changing the perception of someone is Vincent Van Gogh. While Van Gogh was alive, no one would buy his paintings and he was though of as an insane drunkard. Less than a year after his death, his paintings were first put into museums, People started to take interest in his work soon after he had passed and he died thinking he was a failure. Now, Van Gogh is though of as one of the greatest painters who every lived.

Works cited:

"Alexander the Great (356-323BC)." BBC History. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

"Alexander the Great." Us History. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

"Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

"Alexander the Great's Greatest Acomplisments." Historychannel.com. History Channel, 13 July 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

"Vincent Van Gogh: Later Years." Vincent Van Gogh Gallery. Van Gogh Gallery, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014. For the information on Van Gogh